Darren Adam Heitner, Esq. is the Founder of HEITNER LEGAL, Founder/CEO of Dynasty Dealings, LLC, Professor of Sports Law at the University of Florida and University of Florida Levin College of Law and Founder/Chief Editor of Sports Agent Blog, a leading niche industry publication. He is an attorney licensed to practice on the state and federal level, and focuses on sports, entertainment, and intellectual property litigation and transactional work.
Darren is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know (published by the American Bar Association), Contributing Writer of An Athlete’s Guide to Agents, 5th Edition, and has authored many sports, entertainment and intellectual property-related Law Journal articles.
Darren has a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the same institution.

Stop Calling Chris Culliver A Bigot

Chris Culliver of the San Francisco 49ers has been labeled a bigot for his comments at Super Bowl Media Day. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver had a week from hell. It was as if a beautiful book had been written, but instead of the author finishing his first novel the way he saw fit, someone stood in his way looking exactly like him, and writing something completely off-base, destroying the masterpiece. In the end, there was only rubble to clear, damage to control, an image torn, and a general public left without an understanding of a man behind his words.

Very few people expected Chris Culliver to be in the Super Bowl in only his second year since turning pro. In fact, prior to being selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the team’s 3rd round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, not many football fans had heard the cornerback’s name. Using a 3rd round pick on the former South Carolina Gamecock was seen by some as a “reach,” but there Culliver sat in New Orleans, Louisiana, days away from being on the field in the biggest game of his career to date, with the world focused on him. Ill prepared for what would happen next.

Should blame be placed on Artie Lange, the comedian who asked Culliver if there are any gay guys on the 49ers? He did nothing wrong in asking that simple question, and rightfully, the media shifted focus to Culliver’s response instead of the question posed by Lange. Culliver stated:

“I don’t do the gay guys man. I don’t do that. No, we don’t got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do. ”Can’t be with that sweet stuff. Nah…can’t be…in the locker room man. Nah.”

Lange then asked if said gay players would have to keep it a secret, to which Culliver replied:

“Yeah, come out 10 years later after that.”

Chris Culliver became the center of the Super Bowl, which would have been a burden for anyone on either team to handle, save maybe Ray Lewis. Culliver was not ready for the question and struggled with a response. Meanwhile, the world was left in shock and quickly disapproved of everything Chris Culliver. He had what has been considered as a poor performance in the Super Bowl in some people’s eyes and the 49ers lost to the Baltimore Ravens.

A week has passed, but the hatred slung at Chris Culliver has not been vanquished. He will continually have to deal with questions regarding his response to Artie Lange. He refuses to speak publicly in the wake of the Super Bowl. But his guardian, Murray Pool Jr., a successful entrepreneur from Raleigh, North Carolina who has made it a point to stay out of the public eye and not get involved in Chris Culliver’s public affairs in the 7 years he has known Culliver, felt that the media had gone too far this time and that somebody needed to say something. Mr. Pool, in an exclusive interview with Forbes.com, has decided that it is time to clear the air and provide some insight on the real Chris Culliver.

DARREN HEITNER: How did you and Chris get to know each other?

MURRAY POOL JR.: It started his senior year of high school. A friend of the family by the name of Cedric Sneed said he had a buddy named Chris Culliver who didn’t have any family around at the time, was kind of lost in his ways, sleeping on different people’s couches every night and needed some help. Cedric brought him to my office, we hung out for a couple of weeks, and my wife and I decided that Chris needed a home base, a place to live. He didn’t know where he was going to stay every night. He was staying between Cedric Sneed’s house and his trainer James Payne’s, who was also a very big influence in his life. He stayed with us and had a place to come home to on breaks from college and Chris became an extended part of the family.

Why do you think Chris responded to Artie Lange’s question the way that he did?

Chris thought it was a joke. Chris was not taking the interview seriously. People only hear the 3-4 lines that Chris said. Chris was asked numerous joking questions, for example, “How many white girls are you going to sleep with this week?” Do I agree with what Chris said? No. Chris also doesn’t agree with what he says. At the same time, even if the question was asked on a serious note, he couldn’t have answered it the right way. If Chris would have said, “No, it’s okay, I agree with homosexuals playing with me, it’s totally fine,” then people would have questioned Chris’ homosexuality in himself. If he would have said, “No comment,” people would have questioned whether there are homosexuals on the 49ers. Chris said what he said. Next thing you know, the world turns him into Adolf Hitler or something. In my opinion, it’s a lose, lose question any way he answers it.

How is it possible that Chris was not prepared for questioning on Media Day?

First of all, Media Day should consist of questions pertaining to football and the Super Bowl. There’s a real problem when you let two-bit rinky dink reporters in there asking questions that have nothing to do with the game. I don’t think Chris even took the question seriously, because it had nothing to do with the game. I’ve heard some commentators say it was the 49ers fault for allowing people to ask those questions. I feel it’s sort of the NFL’s fault for letting those people in on Media Day. The guy isn’t even a reporter. He’s a comedian. Next thing you know, Chris is labeled a bigot. He’s not a bigot. For years, reporters have wondered who is going to mess up on Media Day, because there is this fundamental problem with Media Day. These questions are purposefully derived to throw somebody off, and for some two-bit reporter to get his name in the news and make a story out of nothing.

What is your response to the way that members of the media reacted to the statements Chris made?

I have a huge problem with the way the media has responded to this. First of all, it’s a set-up question. Everybody in the world should recognize that, and I would feel knows that. The biggest problem is that people are labeling Chris a bigot, a bad person and to stay away from him when they don’t even know Chris. For example, the lead story on PTI was about Chris Culliver, and they did a two minute bit on it. And Mike Wilbon, on national television throws his hands up in the air and says all these hateful things about Chris. How dare Mike Wilbon be allowed to do this? I thought Mike Wilbon was a great sports writer, broadcaster, and commentor. I actually enjoy reading and watching his stuff, but he is wrong when he is flat out judging someone on national television without even knowing this person. If he wants to talk about his comments fine…the way he plays football then fine…but not what kind of person he is because he doesn’t know. Not that it matters to him, but I will never be able to watch or read his material in the same way, because I don’t know if it’s accurate or not anymore.

Mike Wilbon does not know Chris Culliver. All he did was hear 3-4 remarks from Chris. And he’s allowed to say these things about someone without knowing him? Shame on him. You want to fine all these players for saying things? Maybe these reporters should be fined for saying things about players they know nothing about. People who know Chris knows he welcomes all kinds of people and is not a bigot. It is asinine to me and it hurts when you care about somebody and you see him being throttled not only in the sports world, but on CNN. There are very few people in this world that my wife and I would trust around our children and Chris Culliver is one of those people. I feel Mike Wilbon owes Chris an apology on his television show if he can thrash Chris without knowing him and is judging him by 3-4 remarks he heard on the radio. He shouldn’t be allowed to say those things. It’s unethical. He should take a strong look in the mirror. He owes Chris an apology.

Have you given any advice to Chris since the incident?

Absolutely. I told Chris before the Super Bowl to put it out of his mind, because he had a football game to go play. I told Chris to be careful with anything he says around the media, or anybody, because he is a target. Anything he says can be blown up into World War 3. I give Chris advice all the time and Chris gives me advice all the time, believe it or not. I tell Chris he needs to learn from this. I’ve told Chris that he needs to move forward in a positive fashion in fixing the perception that people have about him not only in San Francisco, but worldwide. Chris fully intends to do these things.

Based on what you know about Chris, will he be able to handle the onslaught of criticism directed at him?

He has been handling it very well so far. Nobody likes the whole world to talk bad about you. Chris so far has handled it as well as anyone can handle it. He has a lot of things he wants to do in the future with all members of society in San Francisco to prove to them that San Francisco made the right decision in drafting him. Chris is very very strong willed. Chris does not know the word “no.” He doesn’t know how to quit. He doesn’t know how to fail. Chris will fix this in the public’s eye. He has a lot of things on his “to do list” to fix these issues and to change the perceptions of people, and I think Chris is going to learn from this and become a better person. Chris is 24-years-old. He is young. He is learning. No matter how old you are, you have to learn from your experiences.

What has Chris told you was the worst part of this entire escapade?

Chris doesn’t want to be perceived as a bigot. Chris, as most people do, wants to be perceived as a good person. And in knowing Chris is a good person, and where his heart really is, for people to look at Chris in a bad light…it would get to anyone. I would say being looked at as a bigot and in a bad nature is the worst thing, because he feels like not only did he let down himself, but his teammates, the San Francisco 49ers organization, and most importantly, the public. And he wants to fix that.

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